Built For Her

When I get to them, he’s got a hold of her with his free hand and there’s blood on them both. I jump on Mark’s back and wrap an arm around his neck, trying to hold on and choke him at the same time. Steph smashes the heel of her hand against his nose. He cries out, and though I can’t see his face I hear the sound of his nose breaking.

“You bitch!” he shouts.

It’s then I hear someone scream in the distance, and I think it must be Lynn. She’s found us. I don’t have time to look as Steph, once again, goes for the knife. This time when she does it the three of us go tumbling to the ground. I close my eyes and cry out as pain shoots through my leg as the weight of Mark and Steph land on top of me.

When I open them, Mark is staring at me with dead eyes.

Steph moves and rolls Mark over, then helps me sit up. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Lynn, go get Barrett and Neal.”

I must have hit my head when I landed because suddenly everything is fuzzy. Steph’s hands are covered in blood and Gabi is crawling towards me.

“Ginny!” she shouts as she looks into my eyes. “Stay with us.”

Their words are all coming from a long dark tunnel as my vision is edged with black. But just before I close my eyes I catch a glimpse of Barrett and I smile.

I love you, I think, before I fall asleep.

Chapter 26

Genevieve

I wake up with my right hand being gripped tightly and loud beeping coming from somewhere close by. I blink a few times at the bright light and look to my right to see Barrett sitting in a chair beside me with his head down on my bed. His eyes are closed, but I can see the dark circles under them telling me that he hasn’t slept much recently.

I see the monitor next to me and realize that’s the source of the beeping. There are two threads going, and one is much faster than what I think my normal heartbeat should be. When I see the words at the bottom, a lump rises in my throat: Fetal rate. It’s then I notice that one of Barrett’s hands is resting on my belly in a protective hold. Even in his sleep he keeps me from danger.

Using my free hand, I run my fingers through his hair and I smile as he leans into my touch. He’s so handsome when he sleeps. He’s so big and strong when he’s awake and looking after me, but right now he almost has a boyish quality to him. I don’t get to watch him like this often, so I’m going to soak it in before I wake him up.

I remember coming to the hospital after the accident but not much else. They gave me something to help me sleep, but Barrett must have told them about the baby since I have the monitor. I haven’t taken a test, but all our suspicions have been confirmed. Our baby is growing inside me and though we’ve just gone through something horrific, I’ve never felt happier in my life. We are beginning our family, and Barrett is here with me. I know nothing can ever touch us as long as he is near.

The door opens silently, and Gabi slips inside. I put my finger to my lips and she nods as she walks over and kisses me on the cheek.

“You okay?” she whispers, and I nod. “I think you can be discharged in a couple of hours. They wanted to monitor you to make sure you didn’t have a concussion. Your ankle is sprained but it’s not broken.”

“How’s Steph?” I remember she had a lot of blood on her, but I didn’t know if it was hers or Mark’s.

“She’s okay. She had a pretty bad gash on her arm, but they stitched her up and sent her home. She’s with Lynn right now. I just got off the phone with her and she sounds good. John and the kids are on the way here. He didn’t want her to travel back alone.”

I didn’t know I was so worried until I feel overwhelming relief that she’s okay. I don’t want to ask about Mark, but Gabi can already read my mind.

“He’s dead,” she says, her voice solemn. It’s not like any of us regret it, but the whole situation is awful. “I was listening outside the room when the cops were interviewing Steph. She said she was wrestling Mark for the knife and when they fell it went into his heart.”

I shake my head thinking how happy I am it wasn’t Steph who fell on it. We were so lucky. Mark has been a plague on her since high school. I can’t imagine what she went through, but now it’s all over. And we can finally put this behind us.